2005 Statement

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Statement by Minister Eiichi Oshima

Representative of Japan

At the 27th Session of the Committee on Information

19 April 2005

Mr. Chairman,

At the outset, I would like to congratulate you, Ambassador
Motoc, on your assumption of the Chairmanship. I am
confident that under your guidance our work at this
session will be most productive. You may rest assured
that my delegation will give you and the other members
of the Bureau its full support throughout the course
of this session.
I wish to express my appreciation to Mr. Shashi Tharoor,
Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public
Information, for the very comprehensive presentation
that he made yesterday.

Mr. Chairman,

As you are aware, since last year, the United Nations
has been facing various criticisms for alleged corruption
in the Oil-for-Food Programme and charges of sexual
exploitation in peacekeeping operations. Some of these
accusations have been proven to be true, and these instances
of misconduct and corruption must be redressed. However,
it seems that some in the media are overreacting. Is
this occurring because the United Nations, which is
celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, is losing
its raison d’etre in the world? I am confident
that the answer is a resounding “no.” As
repeatedly pointed out by the reports of the Secretary-General
and the High-level Panel, the international community
is facing the new threats and challenges of the 21st
century, and the rationale for the UN to continue its
work thus has grown stronger rather than being diminished.

At the same time, it is my feeling that behind these
criticisms and attacks lies the perception that today
the UN has become unable to effectively address these
new threats and challenges. As you know, Mr. Chairman,
the necessity of UN reform, in order to effectively
address these threats and challenges, has been repeatedly
pointed out in many reports and by numerous delegates
right up to the present. In this connection, the Japanese
government expects that, as we approach the summit to
be held in September this year, the Department of Public
Information will appeal to the world public to recognize
the need for UN reform, convey the new role of the UN
in the field of maintenance of international peace and
security, and assert its achievements.

Mr. Chairman,
Japan welcomes that the Report of the UN Millennium
Project has focused mainly on human-centered development
strategies. Japan feels that the MDGs can only be achieved
by protecting people against threats to their well-being
while empowering each person to deal with such threats
individually. This approach is exactly in line with
the concept of “human security” that Japan
has been promoting. Japan is also of the firm belief
that nation-building begins with human capacity-building
and must place emphasis upon assistance in areas such
as education and training as well as basic infrastructure.
Through the promotion of capacity-building, sound ownership
will be fostered. From that point of view, Japan has
recently launched the “African Village Initiative.”
This initiative aims at empowering local communities
to meet their own needs. It takes the form of a core
project with a series of related multi-sectoral projects.
For example, a school construction project will be implemented
in close collaboration with supporting programs such
as school meal programs, well excavation and health
care services, so that it empowers the entire community
with the school as its core. By having a well in the
community, not a few children will be freed from the
chore of fetching water from a remote well, and thus
be afforded the time to go to school. When the midday
meal is provided, the nutritional condition of the children
will be improved. If, in addition, the child of a poor
family brings a portion of the meal home, the family
will then have greater incentive to send the child to
school. My delegation wishes to cooperate with the DPI
to promote greater interest in and awareness of endeavors
of this kind in Africa and other areas in the world.
Mr. Chairman,
We are aware that, since the reform proposal of the
Secretary-General was issued in 2002, the Department,
under the leadership of Under-Secretary-General Mr.
Shashi Tharoor, has taken the lead in striving for reform
in the Secretariat, and Japan highly appreciates the
Secretariat’s concrete actions and initiatives
to that end, which are enumerated in the recent SG report
(A/AC.198/2005/2). Among the various improvements, I
believe that quite a few people feel that the UN website
has improved substantially. For example, now we can
follow press releases, press briefings and press conferences
through the frequently updated “UN News Centre.”
We are pleased to note that the DPI has been so successful
in conveying the activities of the UN to a considerable
number of people around the world, and within the limits
of existing resources. I am convinced that the improved
reliability of the UN website is the central reason
behind the increase in the number of hits on the UN
website. The improvement of public information services
will be achieved though a continuous process. It is
not a one-time event. That is why we expect that the
Department will continue its efforts in that direction
on the basis of what has been acquired through these
reforms and the restructuring.

Now let me touch upon the subject of the rationalization
of the network of the UN information centres. In the
last three years, we saw the establishment of the regional
United Nations information centre in Western Europe,
which is the only real achievement in terms of a regional
hub so far, and my government pays high respect for
the determination and efforts of DPI and the Western
European countries. UNIC Tokyo is also one of the centres
mentioned in the SG report (A/57/387) which are located
in high-cost, developed countries. In this connection,
despite severe budgetary constraints, my government
made a great effort to ensure that UNIC Tokyo would
not absorb a large proportion of DPI’s resources,
contributing as much as 350,000 dollars in assistance
for its activities this year. Allow me to point out
that this represents an increase of more than 70% in
support over a three-year period.

UNIC Tokyo is the only centre from which the United
Nations issues information in Japanese, and it therefore
plays an extremely important role in furthering an awareness
of the importance of the UN among the Japanese people.
For example, "EXPO 2005 AICHI, JAPAN" began
in March this year, with the theme, “Nature’s
Wisdom”, and the UN is sponsoring the United Nations
Pavilion at the exposition, focusing on “Celebrating
Diversity.” UNIC Tokyo is playing a key role in
drawing greater public attention to the UN Pavilion.
UNIC Tokyo is also continuing the promotion of the Global
Compact initiative, and has now assumed the role of
the secretariat of the Global Compact Japan Network.
My government will continue to work in close cooperation
with the Centre to encourage the participation of Japanese
companies in this initiative.

Mr. Chairman,

It is essential to reach an agreement on the new United
Nations prior to the summit in September. The time is
ripe for action, and Japan expects that the public information
activities of the Department will play a key role in
appealing worldwide public opinion to support the efforts
for UN reform.